Huqoq or Hukkok () was an ancient village located north of Tiberias, now in the Lower Galilee region of Israel. It has been settled since ancient times and is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in Joshua 19. The Palestinian village of Yaquq stood on the site until it was depopulated in May 1 during the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight.
Solel Boneh, the construction arm of the Histadrut, had built a Tegart fort at Hukok near the site on 11 July 1945, and later a kibbutz was established there.
Archaeological excavations revealed that a prosperous Jewish community inhabited Huqoq during the Roman and Byzantine periods. A spring supported the ancient settlement, whose monumental synagogue contains some of the most elaborate mosaics from late antiquity ever found in the region. These include detailed depictions of biblical scenes and rare non-biblical imagery that challenge previous assumptions about ancient Jewish art.
Fieldwork has also uncovered extensive Bar Kokhba hiding complexes carved by the local population during the Jewish–Roman wars, including what is described as the most extensive such system discovered to date in the Galilee. These chambers and tunnels suggest that the local population prepared for the Bar Kokhba revolt, though it remains unclear whether they actually participated, as modern scholars generally believe the revolt was limited to Judea proper, with perhaps only limited involvement in the Galilee. Around a millennium later, a Crusader-era coin hoard was hidden in these ancient hideouts.
Name
The name Huqoq is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in the Book of Joshua and the Books of Chronicles as a Jewish city that continued to exist during the Roman period. It was also known then as Hucuca.Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p.420Khalidi, 1992, p.546 During the Ottoman Empire there was a Palestinian Arab village named Yaquq.Uzi Leibner, Settlement and History in Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Galilee: An Archaeological Survey of the Eastern Galilee, Mohr Siebeck: Tübingen 2009, p. 151 built on the ancient ruins.
Archaeological overview Archaeological investigations at the site of the former village of Yaquq, located near the Sea of Galilee, north of Tiberias, uphill from Capernaum and Magdala,"Kitchens on the Cutting Edge ", Paul V. M. Flesher, 28 June 2012, UW Religion Today Column for Week of 1 July suggest that the site was inhabited in the Iron Age, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Abbasid, Fatimid, Mamluk and Ottoman periods.Settlement and History in Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Galilee: An Archaeological Survey of the Eastern Galilee, Uzi Leibner, 2009, p. 151.Magness, 2011, "Huqoq - Preliminary Report" The Arab village of Yakuk was abandoned during the 1948 war and was bulldozed in 1968.
In July 2020, the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research announced a project funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State in which mosaics and other materials at the archaeological site of the 5th century CE synagogue, first excavated in 2012 by Jodi Magness, would be made available to the public. Initially, access to visitors would be through films, reconstructed images and interpretive material, while conservation efforts continue at the site. The ultimate goal of the project is making the excavations and mosaics open for viewing."Ancient Galilee Synagogue to Open to Global Public Through New US-Israel Project.", Algemeiner Journal, July 20, 2026. Accessed July 20, 2026. "The ancient synagogue at Huqoq has attracted international attention since archaeologists began uncovering its mosaic floors in 2012. However, the site has never been open to visitors. The new initiative will combine archaeological excavation and conservation with digital engagement and public interpretation, laying the groundwork for the synagogue’s eventual opening while allowing people to explore it remotely in the meantime. The project will produce a dedicated website, a three-dimensional reconstruction of the synagogue, documentary films, educational resources, and other interpretive content."
Bronze Age The village site was inhabited in the Early and Middle Bronze Age.
In the Hebrew Bible Huqoq () is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in Joshua 19:34.International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia "Hukkok: huk’-ok (chuqqoq): A town on the border of Naphtali named with Aznoth-tabor (Jos 19:34). It is usually identified with the village of Yaquq, which stands on the West of Wady el-‘Amud, to the Northwest of Gennesaret, about 4 miles from the sea. This would fall on the boundary of Zebulun and Naphtali, between Tabor and Hannathon (). The identification may be correct; but it seems too far from Tabor." The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia considers the identification of Huqoq with Yaquq as plausible, although it might be too far from Aznoth-tabor (possibly Khirbet el-Jebeil , c. north of Mount Tabor) to fit the description.
Roman and Byzantine periods The Roman-period village was large and prosperous due to the presence of a constant spring. It is apparent from both the synagogue and the absence of pig bones that the Roman period village was Jewish.
"The most extensive hiding complex discovered to date in the Galilee" has been announced in March 2024."Ancient Jewish revolt-era 'safe rooms' revealed in the Galilee". Gavriel Fiske for Times of Israel. Posted and accessed 18 March 2024. There are some eight hiding cavities with more ramifications being discovered, connected by tunnels set at straight angles to slow down Roman soldiers hunting for Jewish rebels. The hiding complex dates back to the First Jewish-Roman War (66-70 CE) and the Bar Kochba Revolt (132-136 CE), and could only serve for short-term concealment from Roman patrols due to the small size of the chambers.
Most of the numerous finds attest to the use of the underground system during the First Revolt, and while there is no proof yet for the Bar Kochba Revolt actually spreading out to Galilee, a small number of artifacts found in this complex show that it was "involved in the preparations" for the uprising. The refuge system was revealed through community excavations with the participation of local residents, students enrolled in archaeology and Land of Israel studies, volunteers from a cavers club, and soldiers from the IDF's Samur Unit for underground operations.
The village is attested in Late Roman and Byzantine period rabbinic sources. Archaeological findings as well as the mention of Huqoq in both the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud prove that the Jewish village survived the Bar Kochba Revolt.
Ottoman period
The prosperity of the ancient village contrasts with the simplicity of the Ottoman-era settlement and can be seen by archaeologists in animal bones cut by professional butchers in the ancient Jewish village, and by farmers in the Muslim period.
Synagogue Among the structures uncovered during the 2012 dig were the remains of an elaborate synagogue,Ancient shul, Samson mosaic found in Galilee, By Yonah Jeremy Bob, 7 February 2012, Jerusalem Post dated to the 5th century. Findings include limestone carvings and an elaborate floor mosaic. The synagogue's walls and columns were painted in bright colors: plaster fragments show traces of pink, red, orange and white pigments. The artistry of the mosaic, which is composed of tiny tiles, together with the large stones used for the walls, attests to the prosperity of the village.Remains of Roman Period Synagogue Discovered in Galilee, July 2, 2012, Science News
In July 2026, the Israel Antiquities Authority and American partners launched a joint initiative called 'Freedom 250' to preserve the ancient synagogue and make its archaeological discoveries more accessible to the public for the first time. The project includes conservation of the site, a dedicated website, a 3D digital reconstruction of the synagogue, documentary films, and other educational resources.
Mosaic iconography
The mosaic includes of the Biblical hero Samson. The figure of Samson appears twice: carrying the gates of Gaza, tying burning torches to the tails of foxes.[ Archaeologists Reveal Incredible Ancient Biblical Mosaics for the First Time], The Western Journal, accessed 6 Jul Samson and the foxes is an episode from the Book of Judges (). During a battle with the Philistines, Samson catches 300 wild foxes, ties burning torches to their tails and sets them loose to set fire to Philistine grain fields."Biblical Samson Torches Fox Tails in Ancient Synagogue Mosaic", Gwen Ackerman, 2 July 2012, Businessweek"Ancient synagogue and mosaic unearthed in Galilee", Matti Friedman, Times of Israel, 2 July 2012Samson follows the sun to Galilee, Elchanan Reiner and David Amit, 6 October 2012, Haaretz
According to archaeologist Jodi Magness, the discovery is significant because "only a small number of ancient (Late Roman) synagogue buildings are decorated with mosaics showing biblical scenes, and only two others have scenes with Samson (one is at another site just a couple of miles from Huqoq)."Monumental synagogue building discovered in excavations in Galilee (July 2012), Israel Antiquities Authority
The mosaic also shows two human faces, apparently female, flanking a Hebrew inscription promising a reward to those who perform good deeds.Monumental synagogue uncovered in Galilee, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs2 August 2012, accessed 18 July 2019 In 2018, photographs of newly discovered mosaics were published in conjunction with a 70-page interim report of the excavations from 2014–2017. The new publication shows that the floor mosaic also depicts Noah's Ark, The Twelve Spies of Numbers 13:1-33 and the Parting of the Red Sea, themes that are rarely, if ever, found in synagogues of the time. Other images show Jonah being swallowed by the fish and the building of the Tower of Babel. The mosaic also incorporates pagan Hellenistic images such as cupids and theatre masks, and an obscure cluster of important looking men, one of whom may be Alexander the Great, next to soldiers and war elephants. If Magness' theory is correct, this would be the only case of a synagogue being decorated with non-Biblical imagery. Another theory is that the two groups, one dressed in armour and the other in white robes, represent the alliance between the Seleucids and the High Priest, John Hyrcanus.
Hiding complexes
Huqoq is home to at least three rock-cut underground complexes. This type of installation is characteristic of the defensive strategy employed by the Jewish population of Judaea during the Jewish–Roman wars. While most such complexes are concentrated in Judea proper, more than 80 examples have also been identified in the Galilee. At Huqoq, two complexes are located directly beneath the synagogue site, and another (System #2) lies on the northern slope of the synagogue hill. The latter is the largest and most elaborate complex discovered to date in the Upper Galilee.System #2 was hewn into the soft chalk bedrock beneath a hard caliche layer. It contains seven or eight chambers and spaces connected by arched openings and winding, narrow, low passages designed to restrict movement and enhance security. The complex was integrated into earlier structures: its original entrance was through a rock-cut mikveh, and two water cisterns were incorporated into its plan. To convert these installations for use as a hiding complex, the cisterns were intentionally sealed, the wall between the mikveh and the interior of the system was breached, and stairways were carved to facilitate movement between levels. Additional spaces were cut for storage and concealment. The workmanship, initially rough and later more precise, suggests two phases of construction, possibly corresponding to preparations for the First Jewish Revolt and later for the Bar Kokhba revolt.